Sly Cooper: Cracks in Time
by Sassybac12
Summary: Sly is lost in Egypt, Bentley has noticed that time is disappearing, and Carmelita is slowly falling apart. Someone is using these mysterious "cracks" to destroy time. Can Sly and the Gang stop this unknown villain before all of time is destroyed?
1. Chapter 1: Lost in Egypt

Author's Note

First I do not own the Sly Cooper Franchise or any of it's characters. I do own my own characters though. Also in order to understand the story perfectly you have to play the games or at least read some summaries. By the games I mean all four of them. I will update the chapters monthly. Some of the chapters will be long and some will be short deal with it. If it gets alot of likes I am already planning a sequal! Hope you like it!

**_Chapter One_**

**_-Lost in Egypt-_**

I was dazed, my back was hot, and I had to squint to see. I sat up and looked around, sand. I see my cane half buried in the sand next to me. I reached out for it but pulled my hand back at the sight of a large beetle crawling around it. I slowly pushed myself onto my feet to get a better view of the area. I was on a large hill of sand in a desert that seemed to go on forever. I turned around and seen a large stone village next to three pyramids and a large statue of a dog. I realized where I was, I was in Ancient Egypt. I bent over to my right and flicked the insect away. I grabbed my cane and pulled it out of the sand. I started down the hill to look around the village.

As I was walking down the hill I was wondering if I still had all my memory so I told myself, "My name is Sly Cooper, I am a master thief from a long line of thieves. My best friends are Bentley, Murray, and my one and only love Carmelita. I was sent here by Le Paradox in a large explosion. I am a raccoon, a blue raccoon with a large tail. I wear a mask and a blue outfit, I also use my father's cane as a weapon and tool. I need to find a way back to my friends."

The village was crawling with markets. I only noticed all the gold these people had, I had an urge to pickpocket someone but there were too many people and guards around. I he walked down into a small back alley and jumped onto a group of barrels and pulled myself onto the roof of a building. I waited there until the sun set over the sand hills and the moon rose over the pyramids. I walked to the edge of the roof and watched as large dogs in armor walked around and lit the torches in the street ways. I realized these were the Pharaoh's guards patrolling the dark and quiet streets. I jumped down onto a cart that was heading in the palace's direction. I crawled to the front and pick pocketed the driver. At that moment someone then screamed, "Thief! Thief! Call the Pharaohs Guards! Thief! "

I jumped off but realized they weren't talking about me. Another raccoon was running through the street with a sack of gold. I decided to run after the thief to see what was going on. I had the feeling it was a Cooper and I wanted to meet him. I ran out of the village as the strange thief ran behind a large rock. When I reached the stone I ran behind it to find that the thief was gone. The rock had an indent of a Cooper cane on the top. I pushed his cane into the slot and turned it. A small entry way opened at the bottom of the stone, I bent down and slid myself in and stood up in the small room as the door closed behind me. I climbed down the latter in front of me and walked into a room full of gold and silver. The thief was standing at a table looking through the sack of gold; he put it down and said, "Why did you follow me? How did you get in here! "

"Oh I'm sorry; my name is Sly, Sly Cooper. I'm kind of lost." I replied quickly.

The thief turned around to look at me. He was a little bit taller than me and had a darker color in his fur. He wore a type of armor that was blue and gold, lined with black stones. He had two small canes that when put together made an Ankh. On his chin he had a beard that was wrapped in a black cloth. He wore a crown like a Pharaoh's. Around his eyes was some black paint to make his eyes seem bigger. He looked confused as he said, "Cooper? I am the only Cooper left in Egypt."

"Well, I am not from here, I am from Paris."

Again he looked confused, "Paris? Where is this Paris?"

"It's in the future, see I am from the future. It's a long and confusing story."

"Tell me the story, and then you can prove you are a Cooper."

"First, tell me your name."

"My name is Slytunkhamen Cooper the Second." Slytunkhamen seemed to be proud of his name as all Coopers are. He looked as if he wanted to believe my story.

"Nice to meet you Slytunkhamen, do you still want to hear the story of how I got here?"

Slytunkhamen seemed excited as he said, "But of course!"

"Ok well in the future I have an enemy named Le Paradox who was going back in time to make himself royalty. He was messing with the Cooper history so my gang and I went back in time to stop his plans. Eventually we went back to the future to put a stop to his plans for good. He made a machine that opened a hole in time and space. The machine backfired on him and started to tear apart his ship. He stole my paraglider and flew away as I was sucked into the hole. I then woke up here in Egypt. I came to the village and seen you. I then followed you, and here we are now." Sly sat there as Slytunkhamen took all this information in.

"Ok, it seems true yet legend. Do you want to return to this Paris?"

"Yes, more than anything! Can you help me somehow?"

"I have an idea but only a true Cooper could pull it off. Are you in?"

I had a smile on my face, I trusted Slytunkhamen. "I'm in."

The next night Slytunkhamen and I were sitting on a rooftop looking at the palace. The large sand colored walls surrounded the palace and the pyramids. I was inspecting the walls when suddenly Slytunkhamen jumped off the building and started to run toward the wall. I realized this was the plan and jumped down and ran after him. Dodging the lights of multiple guards I was quickly making my way down the street. Slytunkhamen was fast, really fast. He pulled out his two small canes and hit multiple guards to get through. I jumped on a cabbage stand to get on the rooftops. The cabbages fell out and scattered across the road, the lizard running the stand screamed, "My cabbages! Not again! It happens everywhere I go!"

I passed the guards down on the street and jumped off the roof. A large guard in armor came running at me. I pulled out my cane and tripped the guard. When I reached the wall Slytunkhamen was already halfway up.

"How do I get up?" I yelled.

"I will help you through once I am up!"

I waited until some guards started to approach me. I jumped up and landed of a pole near a building, I then leaped toward the wall and grabbed a loose brick. The brick started to slip out of the wall but I pushed myself up the wall and grabbed a flag. I started to climb up the red flag. When I got to the pole, I pulled myself up; I was about twelve feet from the edge of the wall, I leaped forward and caught myself with my cane. I pulled myself up and crawled over the edge.

"What are you doing on the ground? We have a pyramid to break into!" yelled Slytunkhamen while laughing.

I stood up and looked at Slytunkhamen, "Really? What's in there that we need?"

"A power source."

I looked at him confused, "A power source; In Egypt?" Sly walked over to the other edge looking at the large pyramids ahead, "Will it get me home?"

"I'm not sure but when people touch it they disappear. That is why we build it a prison."

"A prison, I thought the pyramids were tombs for your pharaohs?"

"They are, but not that one." Slytunkhamen pointed to the largest pyramid and looked at me. "It was made to blend in with the pyramids; it is just a prison hiding in plain sight."

"And we're breaking in how?"

"There is a loose brick up toward the top; it's a two man job to move it. But we need to get in before sunrise."

"Why before sunrise?"

"So the guards don't see us. If they do they will enter at the base of the prison and beat us to the energy source. If that happens you'll never be able to get close enough to touch it."

I was looking at the guards in front of the pyramid entrance and all around it as I asked, "Ok so what's the plan?"

"I stole this recently from the Shadow Master and his crew," he held up a large harpoon looking device with a rope attached to the end, "it is used to connect two buildings together with a rope from long distances. It won't stick in the pyramid but it will stick in the palace wall, since the palace tower is taller than the wall I thought we could glide down to the pyramid."

"Ok but I lost my paraglider, remember I told you that Le Paradox stole it."

He only laughed and looked at me as he said, "I know, but I heard with a large enough cloth you can glide through the air. I thought it was interesting so I made my own." He pulled out wrapped up piece of cloth, it had some strings connected to it with handles at the end. It had a blackish color to blend with the night sky.

"It looks like mine but not as compressed. So when do we start the mission?" I was very eager to possibly get home.

Slytunkhamen handed me the glider and pulled out the harpoon. He spun it around his head and flung it as hard as he could toward the palace tower. It stuck into the tower as soon as it hit the outer surface. Slytunkhamen jumped into the air and wrapped the other end of the rope around a small light tower. He landed on the rope and motioned me toward him.

"From now on we must be silent and move quickly. Now come on." He instantly started running up the rope toward the palace. I realized that Slytunkhamen was one of those people who like to get straight to the point. I jumped onto the rope and started running after him.

As I was running I looked at the Pharaoh's palace which was very large and had small walls around it, at each corner of the wall was a large tower with a fire inside the top to light the sky. The tops of the towers were a light blue color lined with gold. The palace had a single tower taller and wider than any other tower, the top was gold lined with blue stones. The entire palace was a sand color lined with gold and blue stones. Along the tops of the walls were rows of guards with large spears in hand. At the entrance of the palace were two large statues of a dog and a bird, above the door was a winged scarab. When I finished inspecting the palace I looked forward to see I was about five feet from the tower.

Slytunkhamen was pulling out the glider as I jumped onto the roof, "You ready?" He whispered.

I nodded as he handed me the second set of handles, "Wait, have you tested this yet?"

"No, but I guess this is a test." he laughed.

Before I could say anything he leaped toward the pyramids. Suddenly we were gliding through the air faster than my own. I looked down and seen the rolling hill of sand, the guards patrolling the area, and large groups of scorpions and snakes. To my left was the wall we originally climbed; to my right was the smallest of the three pyramids. I looked forward and seen the large sandstone bricks heading in my direction.

Slytunkhamen quickly yelled, "Jump! Now!"

Before I knew it we both jumped onto the cold surface of the pyramid. Slytunkhamen was quickly jumping up the bricks, one by one. I quickly followed until he stopped about seven rows below the top. He pointed at a brick that was darker than the others and said, "This is the block we must pull out together. Once we're in you must jump down and find the heat source and put your hand into it. I don't know what will happen after that, you could go home, disappear, or even die."

The thought that it was only a small chance I would be going home made my stomach ache, but it was the only chance I had of returning home. I grabbed the brick and started to pull, Slytunkhamen joined in. The brick slowly moved until a hole big enough for the both of us was opened. Slytunkhamen moved his head toward the dark hole; I jumped onto the brick and slid in. I started to fall until I hit the floor, I quickly moved as Slytunkhamen came down after me with a torch. We were on a flight of stairs and at the top was a statue of a bird's talon facing upward. It held nothing but seemed like it was supposed to.

"That is the claw of the sky spirit; A god that was hated by everyone and everything because he set fire to the Nile River. For that he was punished and was wiped from all our history and was forced to hold the heat he put upon us for all eternity. The heat has a shape but is only visible when you put light on it, so take this." He handed me the torch and started down the stairs, "Goodbye my fellow Cooper. Hope you get home safely."

"Thank you, for everything. But before I leave, you mentioned something about a Shadow Master? Who is he?"

"He works for the Pharaoh, he has a team of assassins that are never seen unless they want to be seen, they..." Before he could finish three guards busted through the entrance.

"Goodbye Slytunkhamen!" I turned and ran up the stairs toward the claw. I put the torch up the invisible heat source; the heat was greater than anything I have ever felt. When the light hit the energy it started to glow white and gold in the shape of a large crack. I reached forward and looked back at the guards taking my ancestor away. I pushed my hand into the crack, my entire body felt like ice and fire at the same time until everything turned white. I closed my eyes as tight as I could as my body felt like it was freezing in ice and burning in fire. When I opened them all I seen was a field, an empty field. I didn't know where or when I was but I knew it wasn't home.


	2. Chapter 2: Trapped in Time

Author's Note

Just thought I would add a few more things quick. I love hearing reviews or just comments on how I could make it better or why you like it. Chapters will varry in size like Chapter One was long and Chapter Two is short. And I will most likely be posting new chapters more common than once a month but that will be the latest. Also I run a facebook page that is new and based on videogames and my fanfictions! Go check it out it's called: Cooper and Friends

Thanks!

_**Chapter Two**_

_**-Trapped in Time-**_

I don't know where I am or even when. All I can see is empty fields full of colorful flowers and light green grass and once in awhile a tall apple tree next to a few hills. I've been walking for awhile now and the landscape seems to repeat. I decided to sit down and relax for a few minutes. While I was on the ground I looked at the grass to realize that there was no wind. I looked up at the sky to see the purple sky, the stars, moon, and even clouds were out but nothing moved. It looked to be night yet it was as bright as day. I realized what was going on, time was stopped.

"How long have I been here?" I asked myself. I truly didn't know the answer to that question; It felt like minutes, hours, and years all at the same time.

I got up off the ground and turned in a circle to see if I could see anything. All I seen was the tree and the hill. From the hills direction I saw a large flash. My eyes widened as I started to sprint toward the source. I was almost to the large hill when another flash went off. I was very curious on what it was. I started to sprint as fast as I could. Just the thought of a way home made me excited. When I reached the hill I quickly ran around it to find the source of the light. As soon as I seen it I stopped in my tracks; A crack.

"Another crack; what are these things?"

I slowly walked toward the crack suspended in mid-air. My mouth was wide open as I stared into the wide opening. If I reached out I could touch the crack but there was no way of telling where I would end up. My hand started to reach forward but I pulled it back quickly. I was ready to walk away for now until I heard some small whispers coming from the crack.

"Try the black bomb, it is stronger!" yelled one of the voices.

"But it got no style B-man!" sassed another.

I felt as if I knew the voices somehow, and then it hit me. Only Dimitri uses words like B-man. Also Bentley often color coded his bombs by the types. They were on the other side of the crack! I turned quickly and started to run to the crack. I stopped to listen to the voices one last time.

"It's not working Bentley. Let's go investigate the other problems, maybe we'll find Sly along the way."

"Alright Carmelita, gang lets go."

I could hear the sadness in both Bentley's and Carmelita's voice. I looked around one last time and turned to face the crack. I walked forward until I felt the fire and ice of the crack's power. Before I knew it I was standing in a desert while Bentley, Murray, Carmelita, and even Dimitri were walking away with their heads down. I crossed my arms as they turned to see what the source of the light was.

There was a smile on my face as I said, "Miss me?"


	3. Chapter 3: Searching

_**Chapter Three**_

_**-Searching-**_

I was in my lab researching a way to travel forward in time, but my research was useless. I finally gave up on the theory of traveling to the future. I was tired so I hung up my lab coat and got into my elevator and pressed the up button. I pulled out my new tablet that has replaced my old laptop. I saw I had no new emails or even messages. When the door opened I could see shelves full of books. I rolled over to the history section and grabbed a book on ancient Africa. I flipped it open to where my bookmark was and started to read about the ancient tribes that were scattered throughout the jungles. I rolled over to the fireplace where I could read my book peacefully. Everything was calm as I grabbed my tablet and called Edward to come to the library. The door opened as Edward, my robot butler, slid in with a hot cup of cocoa.

"Here you are Sir Bentley." He handed me the mug and turned to leave the library.

"Hold on Edward, could you grab my glasses off the table by the Sci-Fi section. Thank you."

Edward slid over to the table and grabbed my glasses; he turned and moved toward me. He set the glasses on the table next to me.

"Thank you, that will be all for now Edward."

"Yes Sir Bentley. Have a wonderful read." He quickly slid out of the room.

I reached over and grabbed the glasses; I slid them on my face and looked down at the history book. I took a sip of cocoa and turned the page. I set down my mug and sat up straight to inspect the page better. A large picture was placed on the page of a crater.

I started to read the caption out loud, "This is the mysterious crater of Mount Kilimanjaro. In a year still unknown it was reported missing. According to legend the great mountain vanished completely along with the area around it. No one knows how it disappeared but research is still under way. The mountain has been gone since ancient times."

I set down the book and pulled out my tablet, I quickly searched the mountain and seen the same thing. The mountain was gone, something is going on. I rolled around the center table and headed over to the Africa book section. I pulled down one of my favorite books on Mount Kilimanjaro and seen the cover had changed from The Great Mountain of Kilimanjaro to The Vanishing Mounting. I slid the book back into the shelf and slowly turned to the door. I started to roll myself over while thinking this whole thing over.

I opened the door to my lab to see the time machine pieces scattered on the floor. I had never gotten around picking them up since there hasn't been a need for them. I realized what was going on, someone or something is changing time itself. I rolled over to my desk and pressed a small button on my main computer. A door in the wall opened and a large tube slid out with my newest invention, my wheelchair. This wheelchair could was automated and could reach speeds of fifty miles per hour. It had four robot hands instead of two and even had a new setting, the spider mode. Spider mode has six steel legs that look like spider legs come out allowing me to climb certain objects.

I jumped from my old green wheelchair into the new black wheelchair. It actually felt more natural than the other one did. I grabbed my tablet and slid it into the slot built for it. I drove over to my bomb collection and loaded my small machine into the empty little slot on the back of my wheelchair. This machine creates any kind of bomb I program it to.

I was ready to leave, I was going to gather a new gang to find out what is going on and see if we can find Sly in the process. First I needed to find my old friend Murray, a member of our original gang. What I know of he is currently in professional wrestling somewhere in America.

I gathered some food and drove over to my docking station which held my new vehicle, the Cooper Jet. I pressed a button on my wheelchair, the hatch opened and a large claw crawled out, grabbed the wheelchair and pulled me up and into the jet. I was locked into place as the jet started up; I put in the coordinates for New York City.

The ride was shorter than expected and in no time I was hovering over the wrestling stadium on the outskirts of the city. I put the jet in low hover mode as the hatch opened. The large claw unlocked me and set me on the sidewalk. I looked up to see the jet go into invisible mode. I locked the jet on my tablet and headed to the door.

The large bulldog at the door looked at me and said, "Do you have a ticket pipsqueak?"

"Well…" I started.

"If you don't have a ticket you don't get in! Now get out of here!"

This was the perfect time to use a new invention of mine, I call it Fake Paper. The look of the paper changes into whatever the person looking at it wants it to. I pulled the small slip out and said, "Do you really want to talk to the owner of the company you work for like that?" I smiled as I seen his facial expression. He looked at me in awe and just stared. "Let me in now."

He stood up straight and opened the door, "Yes sir, I am utterly sorry for my mistake sir."

I slid on through into a long hallway full of portraits of the champions. I rolled down hall but stopped at the end and looked to my right. A large gold portrait of Murray standing on a pile of knocked out wrestlers was staring me in the face. I opened the door in front of me and instantly it was twenty times louder. I could see over two thousand fans screaming in the stadium.

At the bottom of the stands was a large arena, in the arena was a large pink hippo hitting multiple dogs away from the center. I rolled down the ramp in the middle of the stairs. When I reached the bottom I rolled up to the arena and yelled, "Murray!"

Murray looked over, when he seen me he grew the largest smile. He quickly started to kick his foes out of the arena. He ran over and jumped over the ropes. He squeezed me tightly, "Bentley! I missed you so much!"

"Missed you to Murray but could you not cut off my air!"

He quickly let go, "Oh, sorry bud. What are you doing here? Is it about Sly, did you find him?" He seemed to almost miss Sly as much as I did, but in a different way.

"No… but something very strange is going on; and I need your help. I am putting together a new gang in hopes to fix it and possibly find Sly along the way. What do you say, will you come with me?"

He looked at me for a bit then looked at the arena, "Of course." He didn't say anything else but I could tell he was going to miss wrestling.

"Don't worry it's not forever, you'll be back here before you know it."

"That's what I am afraid of Bentley. All of our adventures seem to end with us splitting up; I don't want it to happen again." The sadness in his eyes hurt me inside.

"It won't this time Murray, we can stay together; I promise." It looked as if he could tell I was serious about this. I smiled and said, "Let's get going we need to find some other friends."

"Like who?" You could hear the excitement in his voice.

"You'll see, let's go." I started up the ramp as Murray ran up the stairs. People cheered and clapped as he ran by, he was famous here while in France he's infamous.

"So are we taking the van?"

"No, I think that old friend is too important to take on this trip. I've got a new vehicle for us to take."

When we reached the front door the guard that seen me before quickly opened the door and said, "Good to see you again sir. Have a nice day; you to Murray."

Murray looked at him with a smile, "Goodnight Billy."

I rolled forward and pulled out my tablet; I pressed the jet loading button. The jet became visible and swooped Murray and I up. I was locked into place and Murray put on the seatbelt. I turned on the engine and put in the coordinates for Paris, France.

"I'd hold on if I were you Murray." I turned and watched him grab the seat. I turned back and pushed the speed lever to full blast. We rocketed out of the city and over the dark ocean.

"So who are we picking up now?" Murray really wanted to know, he probably was hoping it was his old friend the Guru.

"Carmelita, she didn't show it but I think she misses Sly the most. At the moment she is on the case of a man named Burrdent, he's not real but I calculated she will be at the base of the Eiffel tower. I set it all up and all the clues lead there."

"Wow, that's smart thinking," He seemed pleased on our next gang member.

The ride was short as I watched the skies and Murray slept. Before I knew it we were over the tower. I woke Murray up and landed the jet and stood outside it. We saw Carmelita with her very familiar shock pistol walking toward us. He was aiming at us until she seen it was us.

"Bentley, you set this up didn't you? I knew Burrdent sounded familiar; it's what you wanted to name the hideout in Ancient Arabia. I should have known."

Carmelita still seemed sad even though she was smiling. I knew the sight of us reminded her of Sly. I looked at her orange pistol; Sly's calling card was painted on the side.

"Hello Carmelita, I have a question for you. Would you like to help us figure out what is happening to time? I noticed the other day that something is changing history; not Cooper history like last time, all of history. I am not sure but Sly could be involved somehow, we're hoping to find him along the way."

She seemed uninterested; she looked at the mark on her pistol as she whispered a word, "Yes."

She was so quiet I couldn't hear her, "I'm sorry, what?"

"I'll go with you. Just hold on," She pulled out her phone and dialed a number. She put it up to her head, "Hello, Janett. I am going to be out for a few days so could you cover for me… Thanks Janett, I owe you big time." She hung up and put the phone back in the pocket. "Where are we going now Bentley?"

"I believe this is the new gang, so back to my lab to put the time machine together again and set out to Ancient Africa." All of a sudden my tablet started to emit an alarm. I pulled it out and looked at the screen.

"What is it pal?" Murray seemed to be very worried on the matter.

"Apparently there is a major unknown power source growing in Australia. It looks like a serious problem; even my technology can't identify it. I think we'll be taking a short detour if that's all right?"

The word Australia seemed to make Murray excited as he started nodding his head. Carmelita didn't seem to mind at all so we all piled into the jet. I put in the coordinates, the jet flew up, and we sped away.

As if by fate when we arrived we got a call from our friend Dimitri. Before we knew it we were meeting up on a beach just out of Sydney. The waves around us were about four feet tall. The sand was warm as the crabs walked across my path. Dimitri was standing down the beach looking inside of a bucket; he pulled out a clam and opened it. He sees it was empty and through it out.

He turned around and as soon as he seen us he said, "Hey, it's my bland models! Why did the kangaroo hop here?"

"Listen here Lizard! As long as I'm here you will talk like a normal person not whatever you're speaking! Now say it right." Carmelita seemed to really hate the way he talked.

"Sorry Miss Fox; what brings you here?"

Carmelita was pleased by that answer and said, "That's much better."

"Dimitri, we found a large power source here and we are here to figure out what it is. Hey do you think you could watch my lab while we are gone?"

"Sure, since my show Disco Divers is over for a while. I will catch the first flight out."

"Thanks a ton, also I will ask you to look through history books in my library. Edward my robot butler will be there for your use." I wasn't too sure about having Dimitri watch my home but he was my only option.

"Ok Bentley, I better go pack. I will talk to you soon!" He turned around and dashed toward Sydney.

I turned and looked at the gang, "Let's get a move on then."

We hopped into the jet and set off toward our location. Dimitri called on the hologram crystal because he wanted to watch what was going on. Before we knew it we were in the middle of the Outback. The area where the source is was hotter than the rest of the desert. I moved toward the source and seen a faint white light. The light grew larger until it took the shape of a crack. A crack suspended in midair. It seemed too hot to touch so I set a blue electric bomb next to it and set it off. The explosion did nothing but make it brighter.

Murray then yelled, "Try the black bomb, it is stronger!"

Dimitri then yelled over the hologram crystal, "But it got no style B-man!"

I set the black void bomb down and backed away; the explosion was huge but did nothing to the white crack.

Carmelita let out a low sigh and yelled out, "It's not working Bentley. Let's go investigate the other problems, maybe we'll find Sly along the way."

"Alright Carmelita, gang lets go." I was disappointed since I was hoping that Sly would be involved with the crack. We turned toward the jet and started to walk forward. A large light source came from behind us; we all turned to see Sly with a smile on his face and his arms crossed.

He looked at us and said, "Miss me?"


	4. Chapter 4: Back to Paris

_**Chapter Four**_

_**-Back to Paris -**_

Everyone was overjoyed to see me once again. The gang all came running up to me and pushed be to the ground in a giant doggy pile.

"Sly, how are you here!" yelled Bentley.

"Bud! How you been?" Murray screamed.

"Sly it's been a year since you've disappeared!" Carmelita said with joy in her voice.

I replied confused, "It's been a year? It's only been a few days."

Everyone got up and brushed the dirt off them; I stood up and looked around. We were in a large, dry desert.

"Sly, what happened to you? I've been trying to find you but there were no signs of you anywhere." Bentley said while fixing the position of his wheelchair. His wheelchair had gotten a large upgrade since I last saw it. The wheelchair wasn't the only thing different about him, he seemed stronger. Not in muscle but in a different way.

"Well after the explosion I woke up in ancient Egypt, around the time of Slytunkhamen's last heist. When he busted into the pyramid; he did that to get me home, not to rob the tomb."

Bentley seemed to be very interested on what I had to say. "Really, well that changes history in our eyes. How did you get back?"

"I didn't at first."

Before I could say anymore Bentley blurted out, "You travelled to another location?"

"Yes and no. I don't know where I was or even when I was. I was in a field that repeated itself every mile or so. There was no wind, no life, and the sky was purple!"

"Well how did you get back Cooper?" Carmelita had a bit of joy and a bit of anger in her voice. I could see she was happy to see me but was angry about something.

"A crack; it was inside the great pyramid, which is actually a prison for the crack. The same looking crack was in the field also which was the reason I got here." I turned around and stared at what was behind me. Another crack, it seemed as though they were everywhere but no one has noticed. "That crack to be exact." I pointed at the glowing white crack suspended in the air.

"Magnificent! A crack that connects two points in time, it's amazing yet highly dangerous." He stopped for a moment, it was silent until he looked at me and said, "You say the field repeated every so often?"

"Yes, about every mile the area would repeat, why?"

"I may have a theory of what that may be in my library. We need to get there, fast. Everyone pack up the tools and get into the jet we're heading to base." He pointed to the tools than to a large black jet sitting on top of a sand hill.

I looked at Bentley and asked, "Where are we?"

"We're in the middle of Australia, in the outback."

"Where's the Guru; I thought Murray would have begged to have him here."

"Murray was more worried about you Sly." Bentley scooted over toward me and whispered, "While Murray was sleeping we stopped at his tribe and asked if they had seen him. They said that a large white snack took him away before their eyes."

"Do you think it was a crack?"

"Most likely, white snakes do not live in Australia." He turned and started rolling toward the jet. He motioned for me to follow.

I started to walk up the hill; I turned and watched as the crack started to grow fiercer. I turned and started to walk faster; when I reached the jet I jumped in and sat in the front. Bentley was locked in as Murray and Carmelita got positioned.

"Everybody fasten your seatbelts and hold on to anything." Bentley started to push buttons and move levers and before I knew it we were flying away at over a hundred miles per hour.

I slept most of the trip, but when I woke up the first time all I could see was the blue ocean so I returned to my sleep. The next time I awoke I seen the ever familiar city of Paris. I sat up and looked at the beautiful lights that lit up my home's sky. It was good to be home.

We kept on flying until we reached the outside of the city where Bentley's large mansion was located. He landed us right in the backyard, which was large enough to fit three jets.

"How can you afford this?" Carmelita questioned.

"Simple, I built a robot from the money I had left and had it build this. Then I had it build for others to gain money."

"That's a smart plan pal." I said as I walked away from the jet. Everyone loaded out and started for the large white home.

When we reached the porch the large white door opened, Dimitri stood with a glass of orange juice in his hand. He smiled and motioned us in as he walked into the large kitchen. We followed him in and started to the library.

"This is my kitchen and right through the door to the left is my room. The door to your right is the bathroom; right ahead is the library, which is where we have to go." Bentley started to roll faster.

We followed him into the large library, in the front of the room was a large fireplace surrounded by chairs and tables. The walls were shelves filled with hundreds of books. Bentley rolled over to what seemed like the history section and grabbed a large brown book. He rolled back over and handed the book to me and said, "Go to chapter seven and find the page on mountains."

I opened the book and started to flip through the pages. When I found chapter seven I looked for the mountains. There was a picture of Mount Kilimanjaro, but it was a crater. The mountain was missing in the picture. I looked up at Bentley and walked over and showed him a paragraph I noticed.

"_In the crater of Mount Kilimanjaro is a mysterious heat source. Legend says that whoever went to the center of the crater would disappear instantly. None of our scientists have gone down there in fear of disappearing. Research is still going on today."_

_-Archeologist Fargent_

Bentley looked at me and said, "Do you think it's another crack?"

"It seems like it, what else could it be?"

"Could be a hotspot or a volcano; but that doesn't explain why the famous mountain has disappeared, that's why we are going back in time to ancient Africa. Edward, could you come here!"

A robot slid in and looked at all of us; he seemed to be scanning us. He slid over to Bentley and said, "Yes Sir Bentley?"

"Could you prepare the jet for time travel? The parts are in the lab, you can activate the construction robots if you'd like."

"Yes sir, I'll have it done by midnight." He slid out of the room and into what looked like the lab.

Bentley then told us to start looking through books and look for anything different like Mount Kilimanjaro. We all started to look through the history books while the time machine was being rebuilt.

Later that night Edward slid over and said to us, "The Time Jet is ready for travel Sir Bentley."

"Gang, are you ready?"

Everybody nodded in agreement as they got up and started for the lab. On the table across the white room was for colored packs for each of us. We grabbed our packs as Bentley got into the Time Jet just outside the back door. We all hopped in and got settled into our seats. Bentley started to put the coordinates and time into the jet.

We all looked at each other not knowing what we were going to find in Africa. Dimitri waved as the jet hovered over the yard and blasted into the sky. Before we knew it we were back in the Time Vortex. It was good to be on another adventure with the gang. Something was different about the Time Vortex; instead of being blue it was a bright red. Whatever we were getting into wasn't going to be easy.


	5. Chapter 5: Mysterious Drums

**_Chapter Five_**

**_-Mysterious Drums-_**

Besides the Time Vortex being red something else bothered me, the ride wasn't as smooth as usual and it even felt hotter than it was.

"Is the Jet the cause of the shaking?" I asked.

Bentley looked at me, than at the jet panel as he said, "No, I believe it's the Vortex itself that's shaking."

That didn't sound very good. I slowly grabbed my seat as tight as I could as the jet started to shake even more violently. Lightning started to flash inside of the vortex; it looked as if trees were popping out of the sides of the vortex also. Right before our eyes the vortex started to turn into a green jungle. The whole vortex flashed, and suddenly we were right above the jungle trees in a large thunderstorm.

"Quick, land the jet in that field!" Carmelita screamed as we headed for a large group of trees.

"The field it is then!" Bentley pulled on the handles causing us to drop down to ground level as we slowed down. Just in time we fully landed, any further and we'd hit a large rock.

"Thanks Carmelita, if you didn't say anything we would have hit a tree and possibly that rock!" Murray yelled between breathes.

"Anytime!"

"We're now in Ancient Africa everybody!" Bentley said with a large smile.

"Do you think we have any ancestors here?" I asked.

"You sure do. I can't remember his name but he has some tricky moves so be careful. See that abandoned hut right there, it's just outside the Chita Village and it will serve as our hideout. Chita Village is the closest village to Mount Kilimanjaro." Bentley got out of the jet as we hopped after him. The jet turned invisible as we walked toward the large, mud hut. Bentley turned to me, "I think you should go down to the village and check it out while we set up. Be very careful and don't get caught!"

"I won't Bentley; this isn't my first time doing this you know." I laughed and turned toward the village.

I started to walk through the cold mud. My clothes and fur were soaked from the storm by the time I got to the village. I shook most of the mud and water off and looked up at the full moon. I jumped up onto the side of a tree and pushed myself onto the top of a building. I started to sprint across the rooftops, hoping from one building to another.

In the center of the village was a large building with a tall tower sticking out the top. A large light flashed from it, I jumped behind a large barrel to avoid the light.

"That was a close on." I whispered to myself.

Once the light was gone I got back up and looked down to the dirt streets. There was nobody except a few cheetah, panther, and even lion guards. They just marched around with armor on and a large spear in there paws. I could tell they were guards because they were searching everything and wore a symbol of a fist on their back. The same symbol was on flags all over the village.

When they weren't looking I leaped over to another building. I crouched down and walked over to the edge. I could hear a faint beat of a drum. Four beats to be exact. The four beats of a drum over and over again. That beat could easily get stuck in somebody's head. I started to tap my cane on the ground to the drum beat. I then started to say, "Tap, tap, tap…tap." I quickly stopped myself and stood up.

I turned to listen; the beat was coming from the other side of the tower. I ran over and jumped onto the side of the tower, I used my cane to cling to the side of the building. I pulled down and flung myself over to the building on the other side. I landed on the roof with a loud thud. I stood up and listened once again. It was coming from a large tree right outside the jungle. I ran over to one of the branches and jumped onto it.

I walked up the wet branch slowly, listening to the beat grow louder in my head. In the center of the tree was a small, hidden hut. I walked up to the doorway and stepped in. In the center was a large hole leading down the tree. I jumped down and grabbed onto the ladder right before I hit the ground. I hopped off and turned to see a large room covered with wooden masks on the wall.

At the end of the room sat a dark brown raccoon dressed in cheetah cloth and rhino armor. His tail was very large and puffed out. He looked a little like Slytunkhamen but a little more serious.

He looked up while playing his beat louder, "You are trespassing in the hideout of a dangerous raccoon, state your name now!" He said with a dark voice.

"Calm down, no need to freak out. My name is Sly, Sly Cooper."

He looked shocked, "Cooper? COOPER! How dare you use the name of my family?" He stood up and dropped his drums as he marched toward me with his cane. His cane was long and slim like a spear and had a long rope connected to his wrist.

"No, I really am a Cooper, look!" I held out my cane, "See, I am a Cooper but from the future!"

He looked at the cane as he stopped in his tracks, "I see, from the future?"

"Yes, a very long time from now. We are here about the mountain."

"Yes, Mount Kilimanjaro, the disappearing mountain. Oh, my apologizes, my name is Gooda Kooper. I am the protector and thief of Chita Village."

"Are you willing to help me, my gang is just outside the village. We could use the inside help." I asked quickly.

He looked me from top to bottom quickly and said, "Sure, I will help as long as no villagers get hurt."

"Of course not, we are just here to investigate the mountain. Get what you need and I will lead you to the hideout."

Gooda picked up his drums and walked past me, "Let's go Sly." He jumped up the ladder, I quickly followed him off.

"The abandoned hut just outside the village, that's the hideout."

"Alright, let's be quick. When the sun raises Saroob's men start to get a little tuff on the people."

As we were walking out of his hideout we jumped off and onto a small path directly to the field in which our hideout is located. "Saroob, who is that?"

"He is the dictator trying to take my village. He is the toughest beast around. He rules over forty villages in Africa and wants ours because he believes it is on a diamond mine. The problem is, the village _is_ on a diamond mine."

"Sounds like an interesting guy, maybe we could take him out while we work."

"That would be great. See that tower; he lives in a mine underneath it." He pointed back at the tower as we stopped in front of our hideout.

We walked into the hut and seen everybody was set up and already planning, they looked up as I waved at them.

"Hey guys, this is Gooda Kooper. He is my ancestor and has agreed to help us with our problem."

"Hello everybody." Gooda said.

"Gooda, this is Bentley he is the brains of our team."

Bentley pushed up his glasses, "Hello Gooda!"

"This is Murray; he is the strength of the team."

Murray jumped up, "Hello, do you guys wrestle or race around here?"

"We do wrestle, but now is not the time for foolish games." Murray seemed disturbed by his comment.

"Finally, this is Carmelita; she is the newest member of the gang."

"Hello, I hope you're nothing like this Cooper. I couldn't stand two of him." That comment created a knot in my stomach; I wasn't sure if it was a joke or if she was still mad.

"Ok Sly, now that he knows us, down to business. The mountain is gone, the village is being taken, and cracks are appearing throughout time. Let's start with the village, who is trying to take it?" Bentley said while looking at his tablet.

Gooda looked at him and said, "His name is Saroob, he is a large silverback gorilla. His symbol is a fist, also his main weapon. He is trying to take the village because it is on a diamond mine, he loves diamonds. He actually has a small red staff with a fist sized diamond on the top of it. The staff shows how powerful he is, if we take that he will go on a rampage. When he freaks out he has no control of his mind." Everybody looked at him in awe. "I've been planning to get rid of him for a long time now."

"Great, we'll start tomorrow." Bentley looked very tired and was ready to fall asleep.

"Ok, we should all get some rest." Gooda said.

"Alright, we'll start to plan in the morning. Even though we only have about four hours to sleep." I walked over and jumped onto my bed. "Gooda, there is an extra bed to your left."

He looked over and laid down onto it, "Thank you."

Before I knew it I was sound asleep.


	6. Chapter 6: Hunting for Silver

**_Chapter Six_**

**_-Hunting for Silver-_**

I woke up as soon as the warm sun hit my face. I pushed myself up and looked around to see that everybody else was already up. I slowly stood up and brushed the dirt off of my clothes.

"Sly, can you come over here; I have something to show you." Bentley said while looking through a big blue book.

I walked over to him and stood right next to him, "What is it?"

"You said you were in a repeating field, right?"

"Yeah, did you find something?"

"Yes, here read this."

He slid the book over to me; I quickly started to read the information.

_The Cycle Theory_

_10/23/89_

_I have researched time and space my entire life, but I believe I found something new. I call it a Time-Cycle, it is a point of time that is sucked out of our dimension and repeats over and over again. It is like a time-loop but it is only the land that is taken, not the life forms. I'm still not sure how the land is taken from our world, but I do know it rarely happens. My name is Van Vortosu._

_02/13/96_

_I have a new theory, I believe it is caused when something disrupts the time vortex and that point in time is forced to travel through a cycle but cannot land in time because the disruption has caused that point to become too weak. The disruption could be caused by another theory, time travel, but that's another story. -Van Vortosu_

_The Branch Theory_

_04-23-02_

_My name is Artemi; I have been studying Van Vortosu's work and have come up with my own theories. I believe when "time traveling" there is another route called a "branch". The branch then circles around the time vortex like a ring and rarely connects with it; if it did connect it could break the vortex and the dimension barrier._

_The Inner Theory_

_12-21-12_

_I believe in between the time-line (main time vortex) and a man made time vortex is a "bubble" known as a Time-Cycle. The "bubble" does touch the time vortex but has a thick layer of an unknown energy which is almost always unbreakable. My name is Bentley._

I looked up at him, "Do you think this is where I was?"

"I'm almost positive it's where you were trapped. And I believe that when the bubble connects it creates a crack in both of the worlds."

"Hmm we'll have to look into it after; we have a gorilla to hunt." I looked over at Gooda who was standing near the window watching the village. It seemed like he had a bond with the village. I walked over and stood next to him.

"This has been my home since I was born. When I was thirteen I received my cane which is based on a spear. A fire happened the day after, my father, my mother, gone. I swore I would help all the others because I couldn't help the ones closest to me. That is why I protect the village. We need to stop Saroob soon."

I put my hand on his shoulder; I could feel his pain in my gut. "We will, don't worry about it." I looked at him to see a tear falling down his face, that single tear held all of his anger, guilt, and sadness. That single tear made me want to fight, fight to win. "Do you have a plan Bentley?"

"Of course I have a plan, do you know me?"

Later that evening Bentley had us all gather around the table as he fiddled around with his papers. Since we are so far back in time we don't have any electricity to charge his tablet, so he has to make do with what we have.

"Alright, lets get started," Bentley said after grabbing a large file. "Ok so Saroob is after the village because of the diamonds, so if we took out the mine we wouldn't have a problem. But the problem is he hides out somewhere in the mine and the only map of the mines is located within the pocket of Kandai, the general of his army. Kandai spends most of his time in the tower south of the village, but every night at midnight he comes out to listen to Gooda's drums. So the plan is, Gooda you are going to be playing your drums near the mine's entrance while Sly follows Kandai near the mine and takes the map. After that Sly and Gooda will enter the mine while Carmelita and Murray keep as many guards out of the mine as possible without causing panic. When in, Sly and Gooda will unlock the 'secret entrance' I heard about from legend, letting me in so I can use my bombs to block off unneeded passageways for an easy escape. We will get started tonight at 11, any questions?"

Bentley seemed as if nothing was going to go wrong, but I knew better. Every time we have a plan something goes wrong, but this time the plan was so empty it seemed like it would fail right away.

"Bentley, aren't you afraid of the mine and the village collapsing from the explosions?" Gooda asked while looking at a few papers. That seemed to be a huge point that Bentley overlooked, I smiled at the fact that Bentley had actually missed a huge problem.

Bentley smiled back as he said, "I have thought of the issue but do not fear, I have a solution for that!" He pulled out a fat metal tube and set it out on the ground and quickly it stretched out into a large beam for holding up the ceiling.

"Wow Bentley, good going!" yelled Murray as he moved around uncomfortably in his chair.

Later that night we could hear the strange sounds of the jungle as we started for the village. Just down the main street Gooda jumped onto a building and pulled out his drums and slowly started. Murray and Carmelita hid in a large cart meant for transporting Rhino Armor. Bentley wheeled into an alley next to the 'secret entrance' as I ran down the dark street.

When I reached the tower, Kandai had just opened the door and started in my direction. I quickly jumped over and slid up the smooth dirt wall. I could see him; he was a very large Rhino who held a large club and a torch. I slowly crept along the buildings as he followed the sound of drums. He stopped right by the tower, I jumped down and quickly slid behind him and took the old paper out of his pocket, and he quickly started to turn as the drums stopped but I was already inside a barrel full of cold water.

Once he was far enough I jumped out and shook the water off of my fur and started for the door. Gooda joined me and I handed him the map. I pulled on the door, "It's locked!" I whispered.

"Look Sly." He unfolded the map, inside was a small iron key. He slid it into the hole and turned it until it clicked.

I quickly pushed the door open; it was very dark so I grabbed the torch off of the wall as we started down the damp stairs. The plans Bentley set up were actually going as planned. We took a right and seen it was a dead end, but on the wall was a chain.

"Pull it; I think it is the entrance."

After Gooda reminded me I pulled it down causing the ceiling to open as Bentley fell onto me, he rolled off as the ceiling to close.

"Ok guys, I will go ahead and use these on the dead ends, here let me see the map." He took the map and outlined our path in and out then handed it back as he quickly rolled off.

"Ok Gooda, we better get going before anything serious happens!"

We both started to run down the path and took a few turns until we reached a large white door that had a fist painted in red onto it. We both looked at each other as we opened the door we could hear some explosions off in the distance. This was not one of our sly and hidden jobs; we had no time for long time plans. It was time we just stood and fought, and now was our chance.


End file.
